Iran Announces Visa-Free Entry for Indians

New Delhi: Iran has announced visa-free entry for citizens from 33 countries, including India.

The other countries that are eligible for visa-free travel to Iran are Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Mauritania, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Seychelles, Indonesia, Darussalam, Japan, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, and Belarus, as reported by IRNA news. Moreover, visa waivers for Turkey, Azerbaijan, Oman, China, Armenia, Lebanon, and Syria are already in place.

Iran is the fifth country that allows Indians visa-free entry. Earlier, Sri Lanka,Kenya , Malaysia, and Thailand had waived visa requirements for Indians. According to Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Ezzatollah Zarghami, the move is expected to boost tourism in the country by countering “Iranophobia campaigns.”

According to recent statistics, the number of tourists visiting the country has spiked by 48.5 percent to reach 4.4 million during the first eight months of the current Iranian year. The number of Indian tourists who visited other countries is estimated to have reached 13 million by 2022, according to McKinsey”s analysis.

Iran follows the path of Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, and Kenya, which waived visa requirements for many countries in order to boost tourism.